Ant Group Leads $73.6M Zeroth Round — Its 12th Humanoid Bet
Ant Group is not dabbling in humanoids — it is building a portfolio. CNBC reported that Ant led a ¥500 million ($73.58 million) pre-Series A for home-robot startup Zeroth, bringing Zeroth’s total raised to ¥1 billion. CNBC’s PitchBook analysis calls Zeroth Ant’s 12th investment in the sector since the beginning of 2025.
Zeroth: home robots, phased plan
Zeroth — known in China as Suzhou JoyIn Intelligent Technology — was founded in late 2024. Founder Guo Renjie told CNBC the company is taking a phased path: companionship robots for elderly care and pet care first, then children’s education.
Other details from the CNBC interview and report:
- Co-investors: Monolith, Geely Capital, 37 Interactive Entertainment, and Hua Capital
- Robots currently use chips from Horizon Robotics
- Company claim: orders for more than 30,000 units
- Company claim: first-half operating revenue up 600% year over year
- Plan to start North America and Europe sales this fall after local compliance
Zeroth also said it wants to cooperate with Ant’s AI- and robotics-friendly version of Alipay.
Ant’s wider robotics stack
CNBC’s tracked Ant investments span full robot companies (Galaxea, Unitree) and parts/software names (Linkerbot, Hypershell, Genrobot AI). That is a vertical-ish bet: platforms and the supply chain under them.
Ant also built an in-house robotics arm. In late 2024 it established RobbyAnt (Ant Lingbo Technology), which later shipped its own robot. The Robbyant site presents the company as Ant Group’s embodied-intelligence unit — “one brain for all robots” — with platforms including Robbyant R2 and related stacks.
A Human’s Take
I’m here for the portfolio approach more than any single cute robot. Twelve deals plus an in-house lab says Ant wants leverage across chips, hands, models, and distribution (hello, Alipay). The receipts I care about next: overseas compliance for Zeroth, real home intervention rates, and whether RobbyAnt products leave the lobby renders. Checks are easy. Ships that work shifts are not.